Jamaica College teams up with FLOW & EBSCO for e-Library

Kingston Jamaica; Students and teachers of Jamaica College will now be able to use the school’s Flow-powered e-Library to access hundreds of digital books, photographs, and recordings with the click of a button. 

(l-r) Jamaica College Vice Principal Rohan Wong, Christopher Williams, President Jamaica College Old Boys' Association along with Minister of Education, Honourable Ronald Thwaites and Flow’s Jeanette Lewis observe Taj Hayden (seated), student of Jamaica College during a brief demonstration of the school’s Flow-powered EBSCO e-Library.



Jamaica College is the first and only public secondary school in the country to have implemented the EBSCO e-Library platform.  The announcement came at the official launch of the e-Library, which was held on Friday, March 9, in the Karl Hendrickson Auditorium, during which the school’s new digital offering was unveiled.  

Education Minister Ronald Thwaites, in in his address to the students, challenged them to ‘make full use’ of the new resource wisely.  He reminded them that the opportunity presented, was one ‘that was never available to this extent or even at all to those [who came] before.”

The Minister also spoke to the fact that the launch of the e-Library was in tandem with his vision of making technology an integral part of education, not only for Jamaica College but even at schools that do not have the same quality of facilities. He described the event as one of ‘tremendous importance’.

First form Jamaica College student Shawn-Paul Philpotts (seated) is seen here testing out the school’s Flow-powered EBSCO e-Library resource at the launch on Friday, March 9 in the Karl Hendrickson Auditorium. Observing are (l-r) Jamaica College Vice Principal Rohan Wong, JC Old Boys' Association's Christopher Williams and Stephen Dawkins with Flow’s Jeanette Lewis. The Flow-powered EBSCO e-Library will give students access hundreds of digital books, photographs, and recordings.

Principal of Jamaica College, Ruel Reid, described the launch of e-Library, as a collaborative effort. “I am extremely grateful that Flow has partnered with us for this revolutionary project. Jamaica College has been a pioneer in embracing advanced technology, and the e-Library initiative offers just that. It allows the students efficient access to extensive information in preparation for their SBAs and Examinations.”

Jeanette Lewis, Flow’s Public Relations Manager endorsed the bold move by the institution.  With this new facility, the same resources can be accessed by a number of users at the same time.  Lewis stated that “we simply cannot down play the extent to which technology impacts learning and teaching.  This modern approach to accessing educational material is definitely a step in the right direction for our youth, as it maximizes scarce resources.” 

She also promised to expand Flow’s current e-learning initiative partnership with the school, under its Building Leaders Through Technology Programme.  Under this programme,  Flow helps to infuse technology in the teaching and learning process through various activities, including donation of commercial grade internet and digital cable, mentorship programmes and introduction to specific skills building activities. 

A special feature of the EBSCO e-Library is its customizable, intuitive search experience which caters to user needs and preferences at every level of research. Users, for example, will be able to easily move from the catalog to the particular book then to a particular chapter and so on.  

Founded in the late 1700, Jamaica College boasts a very rich history, and currently caters to approximately 1,800 male students and has over 100 teaching and administrative staff.  The institution is widely known in Jamaica for both its academic and sports achievements, and has produced many influential members of Jamaican society including former Prime Ministers of Jamaica, Norman Washington Manley, Michael Manley and Bruce Golding.